Wickham Tractor employee rides ag wave to Sterling

Costa comes with global experience in ag industry

Gill Costa, a sales consultant at Wickham Tractor in Sterling, moved to Sterling from Hawaii last fall. (David Martinez/Journal-Advocate)

Spend five minutes with Gill Costa and it's clear he knows agriculture -- from the ease in which he talks about modified seed strains to the seemingly wary eye he keeps on worldwide trade, like wheat production in Ukraine and soybean growth in Brazil.

What's less clear is that the sales consultant for Wickham Tractor Co. in Sterling, an agronomist by trade, moved from the beaches of Oahu, Hawaii. His hair isn't stereotypically sun-bleached. There's no bobbling hula dancer figurine on his desk.

But Costa has lived all over the world -- from his first home of Brazil to Australia.

"Having good communication skills is something you need in whatever you do," Costa said of his ability to change from location to location. "I'm trying my best always. That's all I can do."

The 37-year-old discovered his interest in agriculture through his time at his grandfather's farm where he spent his summer, but he's since spent his professional life working in different sectors of agriculture.

He got his start with the Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service in Hawaii. And within a few years, he'd moved from there to Syngenta -- an agribusiness company and one of a handful of the world's major seed providers -- where he worked with anything from nutrient management, to irrigation and land management.

Costa left again for Australia, where he pursued a master's degree in agribusiness.

Advertisement

He said the change was easy for him because the cost of his degree was about half of what he found elsewhere and he could more easily explore agriculture from a worldly perspective.

From there, he got a job as a commodity broker in Denver, which he enjoyed but found "really stressful." But he lost his job during cutbacks and ended up back in Hawaii for another eight months. It wasn't until a headhunting group found him on LinkedIn that he'd considered coming back to Sterling.

"He was definitely a unique hire," said Jason Wickham, of Wickham Tractors in Fort Morgan. He said he had to speak with Costa through several Skype interviews over the Internet and found he knew more about Colorado than they thought he would going in. "I expected all kinds of accents, not being able to understand him. He sounds really normal when you talk to him."

Wickham also said Costa, whom he hired in late October, has made "quite a few sales." He's had to deal with a steep learning curve, which has been a struggle, but Wickham said he's kept up.

Costa has enjoyed his work, the stories he's heard from farmers and the chances he gets to snowboard and mountain bike on the weekends. But he likes to take a philosophical approach to his work, saying his ability to sell equipment and understand agriculture and ag business could deliver a different perspective to new generations of farmers.

He doesn't miss home in Hawaii, either; said it felt landlocked living there. Plus, one day he wants to own his own farm, which might not be possible there. While he hesitates to say he'll be in Sterling permanently, he knows his time in the area is far from done.

"It's early. You never know what the long term is going to bring you," Costa said. "Maybe I can add value to Wickham's in the long run."

RE-1 Valley School District has announced its policy for determining eligibility of children who may receive free and reduced price meals served under the National School Lunch and School Breakfast Program.
Full Story